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Hello, Elle!
Same old tosh we hear when someone fails a dope test!
Everyone but themselves is to blame.
Bubba did well.
Given what we discussed last week with reference to Michener, Angie Watson cannot have children, so her and Bubba have adopted a baby girl and a baby boy.
Angie has had a problem with a pituitary gland, which, they say, explains her height.
I just thought you would be interested to hear that!
Good luck with the Thames water man!

Hi Rusty!
That is lovely hearing about Bubba and Angie's having adopted two babies!
I wonder were the children birth related?
Great to hear such heartening news!
On the debit side....I received bad news this morning from a friend's daughter
Her mum /my friend has died suddenly from previously undiscovered metastatic cancer.
She went to the GP with a chest infection.......and subsequent tests showed the spread of the cancer.
All this happened in just a few weeks.
She was only 60.
Opps! Zero hour approaching ...I wonder will the TW official be on time?

Hello, Elle!
Very sad news about your friend.
A dreadful disease!
On a cheerier note.... "How the Watsons Became a Family".
Good article about Angie and Bubba.
https://www.pgatour.com/long-form/2016/07/05/watsons-adoption.html
I am watching the curling. Eve and girls going along nicely!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, it was a shock about my friend....... we shall be going to the funeral a fortnight today.
Well...no official from Thames Water has arrived ....... but my husband (who made the appointment) is now saying that he thinks the guy might be coming NEXT Monday (the 26th) and not this!
A fine time for him to "remember" this!
Ah well, at least it hasn't really interfered with our day.
I have completed the 15 x 15 crossword.
I thought it quite a nice puzzle?
I especially liked 20a..."enter prising"......!
I also liked 1d, 4d and 7d.
It took me quite a while to parse 15a though.
That is a heart-warming story about Bubba and Angie and their children.
How nice when things work out happily.
How is the curling going?

Elle
Thames Water have not contacted me yet, but a friend sent me this very informative link which I found useful. I hope it may help you too. You may have seen it already.

https://www.thameswater.co.uk/-/media/Site-Content/Thames-Water/Help-and-Advice/Helpful-literature/Accord5/Pdf1.pdf

Hello, Jazzgirl!
Thank you, that is most of kind of you to forward the TW link.
No, I had not already seen it, so am glad to have the opportunity to read it.
We have had no choice about having the water meter fitted.
This has been done by Thames Water and is mandatory for all households in our area.
It is totally inaccessible to householders, being out in the road.
We do however have a two year's hiatus before the meter will have to be connected........during which time we shall be sent comparative bills....one showing the cost of the water used in the "old" system - depending on size of house ( no of bedrooms)/ Council Tax rating / etc - and the new method of costing by water meter. (ie charging for water actually used)
The idea behind this comparison is that at any time within the next two years, one can decide to set in motion the connecting of the new meter if one wishes.......
Or alternatively hold out till it becomes enforced at the end of the "hiatus" period.
I don't know if this information might actually also prove helpful to you, when you are in your turn contacted by Thames Water?
But I thought I would pass it on.

Hello Elle
Thanks for the extra information regarding the two-year period before compulsory use of the meter . That is what I understand will happen here too. Good Luck with the TW rep.

Hello, Elle!
The curling finished with Eve and girls beating Switzerland.
So, quite satisfactory....so far!
Yes, a nice story about Angie and Bubba.
Bubba does lots for charity.
He has a pink driver (golf club) and a special deal with the club manufacturer, Ping.
Every time he drives the ball in excess of 300 yards, Ping pay money into the chosen charity.
He specifically asked for it to be coloured pink, but I do not know "why pink?".
I thought there were some smashing clues today!
An excellent setter!
Could you explain who/what "Nana" is/was in 5d?
It means nothing to me?
Only Nana I have heard of was a dog in Peter Pan.

Hi, Rusty!
I have just been chatting to my daughter.......she often phones me on her way home from work.
Re 5d:
"Nana" is a character in a book written by the French novelist Emile Zola.
"Emile Zola" also, of course, being the answer to 15 across!
Nana was a "lady of the night" ( a prostitute)
Aka "on the game" from the anagram "he got name"
I remember Nana in Peter Pan!
A Newfoundland dog (according to Barrie's written text) who looked after the children.
A more innocuous character than Nana the prostitute!
(I think in the animated film, Nana was a Saint Bernard?)

Hi rusty
Nana was the high class prostitue in Emile Zola's novel of the same name